4 Best Practices for Sharing Workforce Data: Standardized Dashboards

Ultimately, the success of a workforce analytics solution depends upon how well HR professionals are able to share and collaborate on their findings with other key stakeholders across the organization. Being able to easily and effectively share workforce data, and empower business leaders with the right analytics to make better, more well-informed business decisions, is the ultimate goal. Business leaders and executives need to be equipped with the right workforce data, in order to take action and improve the organization’s bottom line.

Ultimately, the success of a workforce analytics solution depends upon how well HR professionals are able to share and collaborate on their findings with other key stakeholders across the organization. Being able to easily and effectively share workforce data, and empower business leaders with the right analytics to make better, more well-informed business decisions, is the ultimate goal. Business leaders and executives need to be equipped with the right workforce data, in order to take action and improve the organization’s bottom line. The ineffective sharing of analytics means that even the most powerful analytical insights will never reach the right decision-makers in an actionable way. Remember, workforce analytics must be put to good use in order to make an impact and improve business outcomes in a positive way. HR must select a workforce analytics solution that embodies the four critical elements to successful sharing:

1. Standardized HR Dashboards. Just like a dashboard in your car provides a summary ofthe most important information for decisions while driving, HR dashboards provide thesummary of what is most critical to monitor about your workforce and your peoplestrategies.

According to the 2012 Visier survey of over 150 U.S.-based employers, when asked to identify the most important areas for expanding their workforce analytics capabilities, the second top-rated response was “standardizing HR dashboards and reports,” surpassed only by “standardizing HR metrics.” Without question, HR leaders know the power of focusing on the most critical information, measuring what matters most, and monitoring progress to goals.

Standardized HR dashboards are critical for executive users to have a “headsup” display of the organization, plus the insight to know if plans are on target. Dashboards are also important for business users who need to focus on what matters most to the organization they support or manage. HR dashboards are also a best practice for HR business partners and business leaders to jointly review.

The ideal HR dashboard should:

• Present the right metrics; measure what matters most to the various user personas.• Define goals/targets that everyone can instantly see the progress to date, trends over time, and when success is achieved.• Deliver metrics that are meaningful beyond the senior management level and at multiple levels of the organization (including departments, functional groups, etc.).• Limit the number of metrics that users are not overwhelmed with unnecessary data.• Allow users to drill down into details to explore related information, understand the information presented, and get to the details necessary for action.• Ideally be targeted at executives or casual users who need to see the big-picture at a glance, but can be powerful enough to help focus and support the larger context of business leaders who need to align strategic measures to the workforce.

We will outline best practices #2-4 in coming blog posts, so stay tuned!

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FOUR KEY RECOMMENDATIONSto help achieve organizational support and a successful workforce analytics solution that will create lasting impact—

Focus on improved business outcomes. Business improvements are the real value of analytics, which result from improved insights leading to better decisions that are implemented as changes in the organization or processes.

Focus on how analytics will be used and shared. This requires HR professionals to take into consideration more than the mechanics of data gathering, the defining of metrics and the building of reports. HR professionals must plan for how people will share and collaborate on information.

Use workforce analytics to make the HR function the leader in asking probing and important questions. HR departments that become mired in answering tactical questions never become strategic partners.

Deliver on four elements critical to sharing and collaboration. The four elements—standardized HR dashboards, publishing core reports, self-service analytic support and mobility—are essential to serving organizational business leaders, executives and decision-makers in truly valuable ways.